Winemaker's Notes

We first began working with Gamay in 2011 as a collaborative effort with our friend Rajat Parr under the RPM label, until the final vintage for the RPM project in 2015. The original sources were Barsotti and Witters vineyards grown in the granitic soils of the Sierra Foothills, situated at around 3000’ elevation. In 2022 we were fortunate to begin working with Gamay from the Ascona Vineyard high up in the Santa Cruz Mountains at 2,500′ elevation. We employ the carbonic maceration technique where the uncrushed grapes are sealed up for several days, allowing the berries to begin fermentation from the inside out. This method is used by many of our favorite Beaujolais producers and adds a spicy fruitiness that infuses freshness and energy in the resulting wines.